Tag Archives: Fannie Mae

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) endorsed a housing finance system that phases out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac but maintains a degree of federal support.

FHFA-OIG released an audit report examining oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's monitoring of businesses that sell and service loans.

Three industry analysts gave testimony before a Senate committee on housing finance reform Tuesday. While all three experts expressed support for more private capital and less government involvement, the proposed degrees of government support varied. Currently, about 90 percent of single-family mortgages have some form of government backing.

In a letter addressed to the president as well as the Senate majority and minority leaders, a group of attorneys general representing nine states refer to Edward DeMarco, acting head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as a "direct impediment to our economic recovery" and called for his replacement. The attorneys' general complaint stems from DeMarco's refusal to allow the GSEs to engage in principal reductions for struggling and underwater homeowners.

If projections hold out, home values will rise 22 percent cumulatively by the end of 2017, according to Zillow's first-quarter Home Price Expectations Survey. On average, the panel forecasts price growth of 4.6 percent in 2013 and 4.2 percent in 2014. More moderate growth is expected after that, with annual appreciation rates between 3.6 percent and 3.8 percent for 2015, 2016, and 2017, leading to an average 4.1 percent growth annually for the next five years.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's December 2012 Refinance Report shows refinance volume under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) was 76,461 in the year's final month.

The goal of attracting private capital into the mortgage market is at the center of discussions throughout the industry and the government. Thus far, efforts by the Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA) and other federal agencies to provide incentives for the creation of a vibrant private mortgage securitization market have been largely unsuccessful, according to Fitch Ratings. However, the ratings agency does see some promise in a couple of FHFA's goals for this year.

Nearly half of respondents in Fannie Mae's most recent housing survey said they expect home prices to rise in the next 12 months, up from 45 percent in January.

While Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), anticipates the gradual reduction of the GSEs in the housing market, he does not believe either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will exit conservatorship and return to the private sector. As such, FHFA's goals for this year expand on last year's three main goals of building an infrastructure for the future of the secondary market, contracting the GSEs' role in the market, and maintaining the GSEs' foreclosure prevention and credit availability efforts.

Two fellows at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) assert that the QM rule is "simply another and more direct way for the government to keep mortgage underwriting standards low."